There are about six unicorns in Africa today. Unicorns are startups, usually technology anchored, which have a valuation of at least $1 billion. Across the east, west, north, south and beyond, Africa has become a farm where unicorns are bred.
In this presentation, we will explain how these empires of the future will alter the ordinance of market systems. Value will be created, economic systems will be transformed – and citizens will see improved welfare because market frictions will be fixed. And we expect at least 15 unicorns by the end of 2023 for Africa.
Join us tomorrow (Saturday) at 4pm WAT in Tekedia Capital OPEN for a conversation on how Africa has become a farmland to breed new species of animals called unicorns.
The Honourable Member of the House of Assembly is not really far from reality. In September 2021, I wrote: “ Yes, expect the privatization of some federal universities before the end of this decade! In Abia state, the state abandoned a college of education and weeds are now schooling therein!” Of course, the Honourable member was sparing the polytechnics; not sure that is possible.
The biggest risk in Nigeria’s university system is that the government can just give up and then ask BPE (the privatization agency) to open schools for privatization. And once ASUU goes on a strike for that, the government will abandon schools as the Abia state government did with its college of education.
Our schools need to be better funded but funding is not the only solution. In Rwanda, I met the minister of education (was there as a professor from Carnegie Mellon University on a work related visit) and saw how they merged most universities into one system, saving $millions by cutting out bureaucracy.
Imagine a scenario where in Southeast Nigeria, we have only UNN with FUTO as its Engineering college, UNEC its Business college, Umudike as its Agriculture college, etc. Magically, you save millions by weeding out many pro-chancellors, vice chancellors, chancellors, etc. You do the same in the northern part with ABU Zaria anchoring; SW, etc.
Largely, we can have only 12 federal universities in Nigeria! What we have now makes no sense because we do not have the funds to run such a system.
Government has no funds
Whether we like it or not, Nigeria doesn’t have the funds to fund our federal university system as we have it now. The labour minister has made it clear.
“Mind you, it was promised by that administration and they promised to kickstart the payment and they paid N200 billion which they borrowed from TETFund. They did not take it from the federation account. That payment spiralled even into 2016, to our regime.
“Government now said we don’t have the money to pay for it. This was the agreement in 2016 to 2017 but we will find a way by which we can fund the universities and revitalise infrastructure
“I am hoping that ASUU should do the right thing and contact their members on the renegotiations that we have had in the last two weeks.
“First, the issue of earned academic allowances, we have agreed, given a timeline to the NUC to go back to the old template used in working out the 2021 earned academic allowance – 10.8 per cent of personnel cost.
“We want them to go back very quickly and use that same formula and get us what we are supposed to pay in 2022. That is agreed by everybody,” he said.
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Comment 1: While this analogy makes a lot of sense, the pride ingrained in an average Nigerian will make it impossible for University of Ibadan to cede to OAU as an anchoring institution and vis versa. Even University of Lagos will muscle it’s way into that equation of anchoring institution, using political connections to turn everything on its head.
Comment 2: Lols… Very sensible advise to merge the universities. But ASUU would find this unpopular especially with the possible job losses that could happen. I think we all aren’t ready. We all want to eat our cake and have it.
Comment 3: It’s long overdue. Not only education, the health and power sectors also needs to be privatized.
Regarding affordability, that’s where the role of government comes in. Provide scholarships for education and government subsidized health insurance for healthcare. Governments can also regulate prices, if needed.
Governments at any level should not be service or solutions providers. Who’s regulating and ensuring quality when the government is providing services? Governments should be regulators to ensure quality. Governments also make money from taxes.
Comment 4: is is the most sensible thing to do. But who will do it? Both the Executive and the Legislature are focusing on revenue generation whilst doing practically nothing about expenditure reduction. Hence we have an amalgam of government Department, Agencies and Institutions with dubious relevance sucking the live out of the country.
Comment 5: Good morning and thank you for this. Privatization is a near option to the problem combating Nigeria educations system. It can be structure in such a way that everybody is happy. Today it is the indigent student that suffers, not everyone. We can easily factor in that. Where there is scholarship and reasonable loans for students, and seriously simulated management system, there will be a turn around.
A video of two security guards manning the security posts of a Chicken Republic restaurant has been trending. In the video, the security boys were seen abandoning their duty posts and happily engaged in a dance battle amongst themselves inside the chicken republic restaurant and video recording it for tik tok and instagram views.
After the video started trending across the social media, the management of the chicken republic food spot fired the two boys for lack of discipline, being indolent and dancing while on duty.
People have been airing their opinions which is mostly criticism against the decision of the management of the chicken republic to sack the “merry go round” security boys for dancing on duty; some critics even claimed that the boys dancing with their full security uniform inside the chicken republic restaurant is a PR for the restaurant and also a PR for the security guard company that the boys were hired from.
Can you in all due diligence as a boss of a company hire or keep a security guard who you know is undisciplined, insubordinate and all he does is to leave his security duty post and dance all day to make tik tok videos?
You can keep the answer to yourself!
While we all try to be humane and have a figment of human empathy, we should never let the fact that we are empathetic make us paint what is wrong to be right. Security guards dancing in their full attire on duty is wrong and it’s intolerable anywhere and everywhere.
How can you as a security guard be dancing and making tiki tok videos while on job during working hours with your full security outfit inside the workplace and you expect the management you work for to pat you on the back, clap for you and give you a raise.
This brings a bad image to the security company that the boys were hired from as it shows lack of discipline on the part of the securities, it shows irresponsibility, indolence and insubordination.
Those that have been calling out the management of the food company for firing them should instead hire the boys if they are okay with having security guards that would be dancing and making tik tok videos on duty or they should recommend the boys to another company to hire them.
Nigerians just have a way of justifying what is wrong and painting it to be somehow right and always supporting the victim even if the victim was wrong of his or her action, if not how can any one justify a worker abandoning his work to dance around and make videos, not just a worker, but security guards on uniform. If these security boys are claiming to be entertaining customers with their dance, is that what they are employed for? And of all people that will engage in entertainment of customers will it be reasonable to be security guards?
The dancing alone is constituting a nuisance to the food place and disturbing customers, it’s a food restaurant and not a concert hall.
It is great if you do not agree with me. If everyone agrees with 100% of my opinion, it means I have lost the core meaning of sharing things here. Yes, my position remains that war is evil and Russia and Ukraine should quickly pursue peace. Ukraine has shown courage, valour and strength, but the leader of the nation has a decision to make – and only him will MAKE it.
I write this because I was born in eastern Nigeria where I saw massive desecration of lands as Nigeria killed and decimated millions, even years after the theaters of deaths. You hardly win wars fought in your land – and no reasonable person will wish war for his or her enemy!
As we expect President Zelenskyy to evaluate his options, I also want African leaders to be nuanced and cautious on how they get into this. Russia supplies many nuclear research equipment, tools, etc to Africa. Do not say something that will cut your supplies and expatriates out. If that happens, many bad things can happen in our communities.
Displeased with Russia’s incessant attack on Ukraine, the United States of America through its assistant secretary of state, Molly Phee has urged African nations to come in solidarity and speak with one voice against Russia’s attack on Ukraine. She made the call on Thursday while speaking with African journalists at a digital press meeting. She sought to mainly talk to African journalists to discuss with them the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the context of its impact on African nations.
According to her, she believes that African voices matter in the international community, and their votes are very important to effectively send a message that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is highly unacceptable. She believes that in this critical time, it is a time for the international community to demonstrate unity and speak with one voice against Russia’s aggression.
In her words, “We recognize that the early days of this conflict are already having an impact on African economies as they are in the United States and elsewhere in the world. We see the rise of fuel prices, commodity prices and we know that this disruption is doubling hard given the earlier impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are already engaged in efforts to promote stable energy and commodity prices, we are working on the supply chain.
You saw this week that President Biden joined other international leaders in releasing strategic oil reserves in efforts to manage fuel prices. I also know that there has been genuine concern and alarm about the treatments of Africans who have been studying in Ukraine. I want you to know that we are proud of Ukraine. The foreign minister has made clear that all individuals caught up in the chaos of this war must receive equal treatment. The government of Ukraine has established emergency hotlines for African students.”
President Biden is my choice any day – I am PRO-BIDEN and his biggest advocate. He does things great leaders do: he looks out for his own. Yes, he has not sanctioned Russian oil and gas because it will affect his fellow Americans. Largely, he does not want to put pain in innocent citizens. For Africa, we have to follow his footsteps especially in nations with nuclear power projects with Russia. If Putin stops those projects, you could be in ruins in your communities with nuclear wastes, fuels, etc!
Nigeria’s President has been well measured. Let us continue to call for peace.
Use wisdom on this to avoid consequences we all could regret. This is one reason I hate nuclear power for energy: it could become a political poison. Can you ever be politically independent from your supplier?
Everyone is measured including NATO.
NATO’s chief said Friday that a no-fly zone over Ukraine is not an option being considered by the alliance. “We’ve agreed that we should not have NATO planes operating over Ukrainian airspace or NATO troops on Ukrainian territory,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a news conference in Brussels.
“Ministers agreed that NATO’s relationship with Russia has fundamentally changed for the long term. But we remain committed to keeping channels for diplomacy and deconfliction open to avoid any fundamental escalation, misunderstanding or miscalculation,” he said.
Displeased with Russia’s incessant attack on Ukraine, the United States of America through its assistant secretary of state, Molly Phee has urged African nations to come in solidarity and speak with one voice against Russia’s attack on Ukraine. She made the call on Thursday while speaking with African journalists at a digital press meeting. She sought to mainly talk to African journalists to discuss with them the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the context of its impact on African nations.
According to her, she believes that African voices matter in the international community, and their votes are very important to effectively send a message that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is highly unacceptable. She believes that in this critical time, it is a time for the international community to demonstrate unity and speak with one voice against Russia’s aggression.
In her words, “We recognize that the early days of this conflict are already having an impact on African economies as they are in the United States and elsewhere in the world. We see the rise of fuel prices, commodity prices and we know that this disruption is doubling hard given the earlier impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are already engaged in efforts to promote stable energy and commodity prices, we are working on the supply chain.
You saw this week that President Biden joined other international leaders in releasing strategic oil reserves in efforts to manage fuel prices. I also know that there has been genuine concern and alarm about the treatments of Africans who have been studying in Ukraine. I want you to know that we are proud of Ukraine. The foreign minister has made clear that all individuals caught up in the chaos of this war must receive equal treatment. The government of Ukraine has established emergency hotlines for African students.”
On Wednesday, the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to reprimand Russia for invading Ukraine, demanding Russia to stop fighting and withdraw its military forces. UN general assembly resolutions are known to be non-binding which makes them carry political weight. With Wednesday’s vote, there might be a symbolic victory for Ukraine as the resolution was supported by 141 out of the assembly’s 193 members. 35 members abstained and 5 voted against. There was an unusual shock at the UN as Russia’s traditional ally Serbia voted against them.
The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres made some remarks immediately after the vote. In his words, “the message of the General Assembly is loud and clear. End hostilities in Ukraine now. Silence the gun now. Open the door to the dialogue now”. After the vote at the UN, Zimbabwe had to come out to say that the vote denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine further complicated the situation. Zimbabwe alongside Namibia, Congo, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Burundi, Senegal, South Sudan, Mali, Sudan, Guinea, Gambia, Algeria, and Madagascar is said to be the African countries that abstained from voting.
According to analysts, they see Zimbabwe’s approach as returning the favour of Russia, after the superpower alongside China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution seeking sanctions against Zimbabwe in 2008. According to Zimbabwe’s government, “the situation in Ukraine is a very complex one and is deeply rooted in the history and geopolitics of that region”.
I am not surprised that quite a good number of African nations refused to vote against Russia because, in 2019, Russia held its first Russia-Africa summit which was attended by 43 African leaders. Trade and diplomatic relations drastically increased between Russia and Africa in the area of energy and mining mostly. According to Stockholm International peace research institute, Africa accounted for 18% of all Russian arms exports between 2016 and 2020, with Algeria, which also abstained, being the largest recipient.
While the U.S is happy that the vote at the UN was higher than almost any vote count they have seen in response to international events, they should not forget to note that quite a good number of African nations (17) abstained from voting against Russia. I feel it is not in their place to urge African countries to vote against Russia, as some of them are in a good relationship with Russia, with Zimbabwe as a case study. I believe every country has its right to whatever it pleases to do.
Analysts say that while many Africans disagree with Russia’s use of force, the continent’s governments are aware of Russia’s power on the world stage. Separately, South Africa issued a statement on Wednesday urging Ukraine and Russia to find a way to de-escalate tensions. Steven Gruzd, the head of the Russia-Africa Program at the South African Institute of International Affairs says that African states are well aware of Russia’s power in the international system. “African countries are mindful of the role Russia plays in international politics.
The U.S urging African countries to speak must note that Africa belongs to the non-Align group that stays away from the power bloc in international conflicts. Moreover, Africans depend on these blocs for aid and investments and cannot afford to antagonize any of them. E.g, Russia grants aid and scholarships to many Africans. What becomes the fate of these students if they’re expelled for reckless comments by their home governments?
